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Phoebe Monday Paranormal Cozies #1

Merry Little Mystic Murder

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Do you have any idea how hard it is to focus on spell casting with Jingle Bells running in your head?

Hard. Trust me on that.

Still, this was my favorite part, despite the subject and content, the endless chatter around me trying to pull my focus, scent of pumpkin spice and pine dominating the air thanks to the real, live Christmas tree someone donated to the police department. Maybe that meant something about me, how enjoying the process of uncovering things people thought hidden through the power inside brought me joy and peace, far more than carols or the holiday season or eggnog lattes.

And maybe it just meant I was good at what I did.

I tried not to think about it.

Phoebe Monday’s unusual birth into a triunity of wonderworkers always left her feeling a bit like an outsider. At least the unusual power she (sort of!) controls makes working as a sketch artist for the police department the perfect fit. Still, diving into memories of victims while altering the luck of those around her seems trivial in comparison to what her Maiden, Mother and Crone family are capable of. But when homeless victims come under attack and a normal human’s murder puts the Monday magic at risk, it’s up to Phoebe and her odd talents to save the day.

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 8, 2021

297 people are currently reading
310 people want to read

About the author

Patti Larsen

307 books549 followers
I write a lot of paranormal books for someone who is afraid of the dark. And I wonder why I have to sleep with the lights on. Sometimes life is a teenaged B horror movie and I'm the one who investigates when the scary music is playing. But the voices are calling and resistance is… Yes. I am a Star Trek geek, too. And a fan of RPG’s. With a slight coolness factor since I've been told I'm allowed to join the pops.

Naw. I like being a nerdy girl :)

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5 stars
198 (43%)
4 stars
145 (31%)
3 stars
73 (15%)
2 stars
25 (5%)
1 star
17 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
Profile Image for Samaira.
57 reviews
December 23, 2022
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series. I loved how this wasn't about the well known, the Crone, the Mother and the Maiden, nope this was about the other family member who isn't supposed to exist. I for one am intrigued to see how her powers will continue to manifest and what in all means.
Profile Image for Kathy Davie.
4,876 reviews737 followers
January 12, 2024
First in the Phoebe Monday cozy paranormal mystery series revolving around an amateur sleuth and sketch artist.

My Take
Larsen uses first person protagonist point-of-view from the very insecure Phoebe’s perspective. You simply can’t miss it what with all the thoughts Phoebe “voices”. The insecurity is because she’s the second child of what is traditionally a one-child only family. A family in which all the attention goes to the Crone, the Mother, and the Maiden.

Phoebe’s luck magic does have its downside. If she gives good/bad luck to someone, she gets hit with the opposite for 24 hours. She always figures the trade-off is worth it and is so accepting of the mostly bad she suffers. But it sure doesn’t help with her insecurities.

Larsen does catch my interest with that comment about Phoebe getting joy and peace in uncovering things people thought hidden. I wonder if it’s because she doesn’t feel a part of her own family, so she wanders around in the thoughts of others?

Yes, Phoebe does a lot of thinking at us, part sarcasm and part criticism of herself. I do appreciate how accepting she is of her klutziness, all due to how she throws around luck.

Grandma Isolde is quite quirky with that game she plays with Phoebe. And the inside of her closet is a Tardis — I want one on my apartment! Mom, now she’s a sweetheart and definitely motherly. Mom does sound pretty amazing with the foods and candies she creates — had me hunting for my own chocolates! As for the gorgeous yet childish Selene, she too is a fountain of support. It’s amazing how loving and supportive they are of Phoebe and yet she still feels so excluded. It’s got to be the magical society’s perception of her that has thrown her off.

Phoebe makes me crazy in her interactions (and thoughts) about Coop. All these hints about the tragic relationships between Monday women and men are so depressing! Of course, there is her grandfather’s, Humphrey’s, state of life to consider. Eek!

She’s also fascinating in her approach to the mind and to her deep absorption in others’ minds.

It’s a witchy world full of rules, laws, politics, and envy. It’s a stark contrast with the Mondays and how they were raised, their compassion and need to save those around them. It’s that concern for others that leads Phoebe to learn about the evil that has been holding her back.

The inciting incident is that murder in the Monday home that reveals those tainted wards, for it sends Phoebe on a dedicated effort to discover the truth and save her family.

The Story
Phoebe Monday’s unusual birth into a triunity of wonderworkers always left her feeling a bit like an outsider. At least the unusual power she (sort of!) controls makes working as a sketch artist for the police department the perfect fit.

Still, diving into memories of victims while altering the luck of those around her seems trivial in comparison to what her Maiden, Mother, and Crone family are capable of. But when homeless victims come under attack and a normal human’s murder puts the Monday magic at risk, it’s up to Phoebe and her odd talents to save the day.

The Characters
The insecure and klutzy Phoebe “BeeBee” Monday has a gift that is both welcome and not — she sees visions of the past in the minds of others; can bestow luck, good or bad; and, sees the pathways of the future. Oh, and she’s terrible at flying. Elegant Grandma Isolde, the Crone; the voluptuous Mom is Morgade, the Mother; and, Selene, Phoebe’s older sister, is the Maiden; the three are the wonderworkers of the Moon, the triunity serving the Great Mother, and a highly respected family. The Heathenry is the herbalist and spiritualist dispensary (and magic) store run from the front of their house. Jinks is Phoebe’s house fox, whom she rescued when he was a kit and his mother was run over. Humphrey is Phoebe’s teeny tiny grandfather. There’s a question of what crime he pulled to end up this way.

Pickle is Phoebe’s best friend.

Silas Gael, a Druid, has been an old family friend. The smarmy Elian Gael is Silas’ orphaned nephew. Ganymede had been Elian’s mother and Silas’ sister.

Crescent PD in Washington state
Detectives Anna Morales, the gorgeous Amazonian, and her slobby partner, Nathan Sallow, frequently work with Phoebe. The amazingly wonderful and handsome Officer Cooper Hudson is enthralled by Phoebe. The mean Dr Ian Percy is the medical examiner. Mirabelle Whitehall, a necromancer witch, is his assistant and a friend of Phoebe’s.

One of the witnesses Phoebe encounters include the unlucky and elderly homeless man Unk Jay-Jay.

Richmond House is . . .
. . . located on the Pacific coast and the home of Dominion and Saraphella Richmond, the dual heads of the Academy of Adepts who rule the witches. Jericho Richmond is the gorgeous, jerk, son of the house. Dominion has a law firm that represents the Mondays.

Mad Martie lost her hearth and is homeless. Inquisitor Fallview, one of six inquisitors, is prejudiced against the Mondays. Niall Shermer was the “ringleader” of the kidnappers.

The Cover and Title
The cover is very busy and Christmasy with its hazy background of greens. It’s the text that really gets crazy with the title at the top in a combination of fonts and fills — all the text is outlined in black. The first word is a solid red, the second word is a pale yellow, the third word is red with Christmas lights, and the fourth word of the title is striped in red and white like a candy cane. Immediately beneath the tile is the series info in red. A gap allows for Jinks, Phoebe’s house fox to sit atop the author’s last name . . . in red. Her first name is in the pale yellow.

The title is true enough, for it is a Merry Little Mystic Murder at Christmastime involving magic.
Profile Image for Jae.
888 reviews1 follower
December 29, 2024
Phoebe is an oddity in the magical world, born into the triunity of the Maiden, Mother, Crone as the second child. While Phoebe never should have been born, she is beloved by her family--her sister, her mother, and her grandmother. Phoebe's magic is trifling next to theirs: she can sink into the memories of others (which comes in handy in her job as a police sketch artist!), and she has the ability to alter another's luck for the better. The unfortunate side effect is that Phoebe then consigns herself to 24 hours of bad luck. When a normal human is found murdered in the Monday family home, suspicion falls on the Monday wonderworkers leading some in their world to believe they've been dealing in dark, blood magic. Determined to see her family cleared of any wrong doing, Phoebe uses skills she's gleaned from working with detectives, along with her own unpredictable magic, to uncover a threat much closer to home than any of the Monday women could have imagined.

This was a delight. Phoebe was a wonderful character, and I adored her "voice". She's spent most of her life in the shadow of her family, but she now steps up to defend them, surprising even herself. It was wonderful to see her grow as a character. Other characters were portrayed well, from Phoebe's stern grandmother, Isolde, to Elias, the smarmy druid who tries to worm his way into her affections. The plot moved quickly and kept my attention. My only complaint is that we never learned the fate of one character, although we can guess at it.

Fantastic story, five stars.
Profile Image for Julie Howard.
Author 2 books31 followers
January 10, 2024
Sorry this book just wasn't for me. It started off fine and like I was going to enjoy it but then everything got rushed and it was over, maybe it was just too short or too much going on that made it feel like it was over before it began. The characters felt well established and I was surprised that it was only book one, as I felt like I had joined it in the middle of the series. I did like the characters and how after casting a spell it ment the main character Phoebe had bad luck for the rest of the day, a fun g it that I can imagine the author having fun with.
Phoebe uses her skills as an artist to help the police but she does so much more than draw. As a witch she is able to see what the victim sees and if they arrive deserving enough turn there luck around. The only problem is by doing so she brings bad luck to herself for the rest of the day. Which is what happen when a homeless man is attacked and then she returns to her family home after a party to find his attacked dead in her house. Has her bad luck brought trouble to the rest of her family? Or are they being targeted like the homeless people who are disappearing? Phoebe will have to figure it out to stop a plan that was years in the making, one that involves her family.
Profile Image for Lise.
1,072 reviews
August 26, 2021
As a sketch artist for the local precinct, Phoebe Monday helps to bring the bad guys to justice. Little does she know that her other ability, her luck talent, is going to lead villainy right to the heart of her family!

Close to the far end of the paranormal scale, Merry Little Mystic Murder still manages to capture the essence of a cosy mystery. The main character is both delightful and entertaining. Being an outlier, she bridges the human world to the mystical one and thus creates the realism that allows the reader to think "Oh, yes, this could actually happen."

I did enjoy shadowing Phoebe. I found that I liked to be in her human world more and preferred her interactions with those characters. That's just me. Both sides were well-written.

Recommended.
Profile Image for Victoria Williams.
Author 52 books432 followers
November 24, 2024
I was thrilled to find a new series by Patti Larsen, and soon found myself spellbound by her crafty tale of magic and curses. The author weaves a story of a powerful family under attack and the one daughter, who is a bit of an outsider, who can save them. You can't help but love Pheobe and her tricky magic abilities. And that she is willing to suffer to help others. But it is her power that comes to light and saves the family. And leaves the opening for future problems. I can't wait to read the next book. I loved this book and read it in one sitting, thoroughly caught up in the world the author has built.
1,701 reviews35 followers
March 15, 2021
Phoebe Monday is a young witch who wasn't supposed to be born, and probably has more power than her whole powerful family put together, which is saying something.

Up until a man is found dead in her home (which shouldn't be possible given her family lineage), anytime she used her power to help someone, she was hit with 24 hours of bad luck.

As her family is being charged with some serious crimes, it's up to her to find out who's attacking their reputation, and trying to sully their family name.

Defined characters, a bit of intrigue, and some humor.
1,792 reviews15 followers
April 25, 2021
Really an enjoyable read. The author brings us a different twist to a family of witches. We find one who is quite different than the rest. She is totally committed to her family but also to helping humans.

Through the story we find treachery and evil that was totally unexpected. Some of the details almost seem to drift and not be well connected to the story. They seem to be important but I could not always make the connection.

But is was a good read and the reader really ended up rooting for the young witch.
320 reviews
February 3, 2024
Phoebe comes of age

Well, it was certainly mystic but it was definitely not merry, wasn't so little either. Engaging characters, good storyline, normal and paranormal worlds intertwined. It was not too difficult to identify the villain of the plot even before he was revealed. It is surprising that the three powerful witches Phoebe share her life with were not able to 'see' the curse that had been planted on her.
I found this to be an enjoyable read, despite having to check my dictionary a few times. I look forward to seeing more of Phoebe in the future.
170 reviews1 follower
February 20, 2021
Truly delightful mystery

The characters are wonderful and interact so beautifully with each other, even the dark evil ones. You can just sense the baddies and read on with fingers crossed that they will be punished. The romantic plotline is tender and sweet. I felt for our girl feeling the odd one out in her family, but loved so very loved! Yes a joy to read, and I want more! Where is that link.....
Profile Image for Angela Griffin.
1,683 reviews5 followers
November 18, 2021
Enjoyable

Such a fun read! The premise of a character who is the outlier in her magical family's completed triunity of Maiden, Mother, and Crone is well-imagined. Phoebe is a real charmer, and it's a pleasant change of pace to have a loving family situation instead of a snarkfest. The mystery is compelling, there are a few surprises on the way to the resolution, and this reader is sufficiently intrigued to get Book Two in the series.
Profile Image for Nicole.
2,873 reviews10 followers
December 2, 2022
Larsen has interesting story ideas but she does not know what a sentence is.

“The way he treated Morales, however? Woke a surprising
snarl of protectiveness inside me, how he looked down his nose like
she wasn’t worth his time.”

Either she needs a comma after however, or a subject for the following sentence. The whole book is like this — subjectless sentences and incorrect punctuation. There are other editing errors also, but the sentences drive me up the wall.
670 reviews7 followers
March 20, 2021
Phoebe and the Cop!

Phoebe is involved with the police department drawing sketches of criminals from discriptions from victims. What no-one knows is Phoebe is seeing the whole crime in her mind. More important she can change the direction someone's life goes. Some one is after Phoebe family and she feels she must solve this mystery. Good read!
Profile Image for Narelle Williams.
130 reviews1 follower
June 30, 2023
I received this book as a 'freebie' in return for an honest review.
I loved the story, it was so much fun to read. A family of witches, an 'extra' child born to the family - one who thought she wasn't as powerful as the others - but who could be more powerful! It will be fun to read further books in the series to see how this power develops. Looking forward to reading more.
Profile Image for Terri Van Steen.
223 reviews3 followers
December 14, 2023
This book was disappointing. I feel like it had the makings of a good book, the story line was good but a bit rushed and definitely unfinished. What was bad though, really bad, was the writing. The grammar was terrible and the way the sentences were put together often just didn’t make sense. It was very hard to read for that reason.
Profile Image for Aparna J.
430 reviews5 followers
Read
February 22, 2021
Wow

It's a wonderful magical cozy mystery. I enjoyed reading the book. I loved the way Phoebe uses her power to change someone's bad luck. The way she uncovers the mask of the true culprit is awesome. It's a must read.
82 reviews
November 14, 2021
Merry little mystic murder was intriguing and fun

This book was lots of fun, it was intriguing, she was a strong character as well as all the females being strong characters. It had wonderful twists and turns but I did catch on to who the bad guy was before the end.
2,445 reviews13 followers
January 4, 2023
Interesting idea having a witch with vision working as the sketch-artist for the police. (She captures the image from the victim's mind.)

Witches are being murdered and werewolves having their blood drained. Who is guilty and why?

Good story
Profile Image for Tonya Peterson.
1,601 reviews3 followers
April 19, 2024
A witch with bad luck

A with that has a bad luck when she uses her magic but when it came to family she would endure it. Determined to find who gave her this bad is still undetermined.
Profile Image for Lizzy G.
52 reviews1 follower
December 1, 2024
Wonderful New World!!

Loved this book with down on her luck heroine who values family & trying to help others. She finds unknown power in herself to do more than she thought possible. Can’t wait to read next book in series.
Profile Image for Leslie.
183 reviews
February 21, 2021
A bit too intense for me...not going to read the next one.
143 reviews1 follower
April 29, 2021
Phoebe broke the curse

The mystic murder helped Phoebes to destroy the curse of bad luck that control her life since she a little girl
108 reviews
October 23, 2021
Merry Little Christmas Murder by Patti Larsen was a disappointment and so predictable.
Profile Image for Sharon.
285 reviews4 followers
November 20, 2021
Magic choices

Phoebe Monday is tied to the fates, the human law, and just plain luck. When it all turns bad, she see her magic to turn it around.
15 reviews
December 19, 2021
Good read

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. The author has a fun way of making her characters speak. Keep up the good work!
650 reviews10 followers
January 2, 2023
I loved this book by a new to me author and look forward to reading more from her.
Profile Image for angela gunstone.
1,857 reviews8 followers
June 14, 2023
Merry little mystic murder

Couldn't put it down loved the characters and the storyline so it's a well deserved five stars and I would recommend this book to everyone
Profile Image for Amanda Haffenden .
75 reviews13 followers
dnf
December 16, 2023
This wasn't my cup of tea. It may be good for others. So, to be fair to the author or readers of this genre, I'm going to skip rating it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews

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